The Museum of the Defense of Madrid is a collaborative and processual project that creates a mental rather than a physical space, in order to transform the representations of our city, our history and our identity.

The defense of Madrid during the Civil War was a phenomenon unlike any other in the history of the struggle against fascism in Europe. For three years, the city’s population resisted constant bombardment by the Nazi air force and vicious assaults by Moroccan soldiers hired to subjugate them. Moreover, these civilians held their motto, “They shall not pass,” even when it did not seem humanly possible.

The lack of collective memory of this transcendental moment in our history is the point of departure for an exercise in cultural and political criticism. The narration of this people’s movement redraws Madrid’s landscape, and, as a model for the institution that produces knowledge and cultural legitimacy, the Museum becomes a radical art action: a modest cart which the artist pulls through the streets in search of the lost epic.